Five Reasons to Watch the Women on 'Political Animals' - Not the Least of Which is Sigourney Weaver

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3) Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn says things like “If I had a rack like hers I’d still be getting laid.”

Star of Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, The Exorcist and more recently Requiem for a Dream, Burstyn is a serious Hollywood heavy hitter, and it’s just a hoot to hear her deliver line after line of acerbic, if not painfully truthful witticisms. She’s also pretty fun as a cocktail sipping grandma who loves hanging out with her gay grandson Thomas (Sebastian Stan).

2) Carla Gugino’s Susan Berg espouses fourth-wave feminism while alternately facing off with and befriending Elaine Barrish.

The ever-watchable Gugino has been a strong presence on the small screen for decades starring on shows including Spin City, Chicago Hope, Karen Sisco, Entourage and Californication, not to mention her semi-star making turn in the movie Sin City, and I only mean "semi" because she should be a household name. Gugino’s Susan is at once idealistic to a fault and highly cynical. She’s a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist who’s sleeping with her philandering editor even as she criticizes Elaine for standing by her man during a highly publicized cheating scandal, a storyline that doesn’t even try to mask its roots in the Clinton / Lewinsky debacle.

1) If Sigourney Weaver were a real politician she’d get my vote.

It’s a testament to Weaver’s acting chops that she's able to seamlessly play fierce, vulnerable and utterly charming. Her Elaine is a phoenix who’s come out of a ruined marriage to the unctuous former Governor and beloved President Bud Hammond (sound familiar?), picked herself up from a failed run for the Democratic nomination, faced criticism at every turn from male colleagues and feminist journalists alike (Gugino’s character) and gone on to become an internationally respected force as Secretary of State and a role model to young women everywhere (also sound familiar?). Her Elaine is also a ferocious mother who would go to any lengh to protect her two sons Thomas, the rebellious fist-ever gay son in the White House and Douglas (James Wolk) her right-hand man. 

If that weren’t enough to tune in it’s just plain delicious fun to watch Weaver interact with the entire cast but especially when she dressed down Gugino’s Berg for hypocrisy when she’s forced to listen to her waspy mother sling veiled mother / daughter style insults at her.

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